The Strangest Dare: A Marhinki Fanfiction
by KatherineRenniks
Summary: When Mari makes Lasercorn mad during truth or dare, he retaliates, trying to embarrass both her and Sohinki. They become tangled in a web of romance and rejection, trying to navigate it all. To top it all off, they have an awards ceremony to go to. How well will they handle it? Marhinki and a little bit of Ianthony.


Chapter 1

It was Friday morning at the Smosh Games house and, for once, Mari wasn't late for work. In fact, she was actually five minutes early this time. So she decided to stop by the mailbox on my way in and grab the mail so Sohinki wouldn't have to do it later.

She used the small bronze key on her keyring to unlock the mailbox and dug out easily thirty envelopes. Most of them were fan mail, which they would most likely spend a few hours reading later. One didn't have a return address, though. It had a very official looking seal on the outside and it was addressed to the entire Smosh Games crew, not just one of them. She shrugged and tossed the mail pile on the seat of her car, then continued into the Smosh garage.

Wes, who for all they knew was there all night, let her in through the back door. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, which was probably true, considering that the Smosh second editor, Tom, was sick and had left Wes with the majority of his work as well. Wes gave her a tired smile, then almost walked into a concrete beam attempting to get back into his office. She chuckled and shook her head at him.

"Take a nap, Wes," Mari hollered at his retreating back, getting a middle finger in response. She laughed and headed towards the game room

Mari plopped down between Lasercorn and Sohinki on the Smosh couch, throwing their respective mail piles in their laps.

"Thanks, Mar," Sohinki grinned. Mari winked at him and turned to her own mail. Lasercorn made a sultry face at Sohinki, who reached behind Mari and punched him in the shoulder.

"Oh, this was in there, too. Anybody want it?" Mari asked, gesturing to the envelope with the seal on it. Anthony raised his hand and Mari tossed it at him. He tore it open and scanned the page.

"Whoa," he murmured. "Cool!"

"What is it? What is it?" Ian climbed onto Anthony's back, trying to read the letter over his shoulder. Anthony shook him onto the floor and stuck his tongue out at him.

"We've been invited to an internet awards show!" Anthony grinned, displaying the letter proudly. The other members took turns passing around the letter, reading through it and talking excitedly.

"Call them! Tell them we wanna come!" Ian clapped like a toddler. Joven snickered at him and pulled out his phone.

"I got it," he said. He dialed the ten-digit number on the paper and waited while it rang. A calm-sounding woman picked up on the second ring.

" _Thank you for calling Interweb Awards Tech Support, how can I assist you today?"_ The group gathered around Joven, straining to hear the conversation.

"Hey there, this is Joshua Ovenshire from Smosh Games. I was responding to the letter you sent us in the mail inviting us to be a part of the awards ceremony?" Joven said in an overly-formal tone that had everyone laughing silently.

 _"Of course, Mr. Ovenshire. Let's see…. alright, can we fly you all in on the nineteenth? That's the weekend before the awards show, and that would give you time to move in and get comfortable,_ " the woman demurred. Joven accepted, arranged the flight, and hung up the phone.

Chapter 2

"Welcome to paradise, bitches!" Ian hollered as he unlocked the hotel door. His eyes lit up as he saw the newest gaming system nestled below the TV, and he practically yanked Anthony's arm off trying to get him to play. Anthony finally gave in, and the two settled in front of the TV.

Lasercorn raised his eyebrows. "Well, you two lovenerds have fun. I'm going down to the hot tub." Joven punched a fist in the air and grabbed his swimsuit out of his suitcase.

"I'm in!" he shouted. "Come on, Sohinki!"

Sohinki shrugged and moved to follow them. "Mari, you wanna come?" he asked.

Mari nodded. "Sure, sounds like fun," she grinned. She grabbed her swimsuit and a big shirt from her suitcase and raced Joven to the elevators.

Once the four got down, they all went into their separate bathrooms to change. The guys, being guys, got done first, and settled into the hot tub.

"So, Lasercorn, how's the wife?" Sohinki grinned. "You seemed extra-smiley getting into the car this morning."

Lasercorn stuck his tongue out. "You're just jealous because I got laid. More than once. All in one night. And, um, when was the last time you got laid, SoKINKY?" Lasercorn laughed and smirked at Sohinki, who just smiled and looked down at the hot tub.

Joven poked him. "It's okay, Sohinki. I haven't gotten laid in months, either. Oh, wait. Yes I have. I got laid last night. BY YOUR MOM!" Joven cracked up and Sohinki shoved him.

"Dude, I don't get laid because I'm single. It's not that big a deal," Sohinki said. Lasercorn rolled his eyes and waved to Mari, who had just gotten out of the dressing room. She waved back and set her stuff down at a table, then pulled her shirt over her head.

Joven and Lasercorn hollered and whistled jokingly, but Sohinki was silent. He had never seen Mari in a swimsuit before, and he couldn't take his eyes off her. Lasercorn noticed and punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow! What the hell, dude?" Sohinki yelled.

"Dude, quit staring. You're making it too obvious," Lasercorn grinned. Sohinki punched him back.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Quit doing drugs, loser."

Mari slid into the hot tub in between Lasercorn and Sohinki. "What's up, boys? Talking about me?" she smirked.

Sohinki still couldn't say anything. Joven came to his rescue. "Nah, just laughing at Lasercorn's obvious afterglow." Mari laughed and winked at Lasercorn.

"Good night, then?" she laughed. Lasercorn blushed and punched Joven in the shoulder, then made some sort of awkward humping motion in the water. The group cracked up.

"So, ah, Mari, any flings for you lately?" Lasercorn shot back good-naturedly. Mari grinned and shook her head.

"Nah, but I'm signed up on Match. Hopefully once I weed out the weirdos and the underage freaks, I'll find someone halfway decent," she laughed. Sohinki glared at the water.

"You, Sohinki?" Lasercorn asked innocently. Sohinki shot him a look.

"Nope, none for me," he shook his head. "I was thinking about asking this one girl out, but I'm pretty sure it would end in disaster for me, so…"

Mari punched him in the shoulder. "Oh, please! You'll find someone quicker than Joven losing in Mario Kart," she giggled. Sohinki let out a small smile and punched her back.

The night passed in a blur. They were all exhausted and way too tired. Somehow, the night turned into a game of truth or dare.

"Your turn, Mari!" Joven poked her in the side. She shoved him off and leveled her gaze at Lasercorn.

"Lasercorn, truth or dare?" she grinned.

"Truth," he smirked. Joven made chicken noises.

"Hmmm…..how many times did you get lucky last night?" Mari asked innocently. Lasercorn gave an evil grin and held up four fingers. The group exploded into laughter and Joven smacked Lasercorn on the back of the head.

"My turn! Let's see…" hummed Lasercorn.

"Sohinki."

Sohinki looked up at Lasercorn, who smiled innocently. "Dare or dare?" he asked.

The rest of the group busted out laughing. "You can't do that!" cried Sohinki. Mari wiped tears from her eyes.

"I think he just did, Sohinki," she giggled.

Lasercorn looked straight at Sohinki. "Dare, then," he smirked. Sohinki sighed and nodded.

"Here's your dare: kiss Mari. On the lips. At least ten seconds." Lasercorn grinned evilly at the panicked look on both Sohinki and Mari's faces.

"You can't-"

"That's not-"

Lasercorn cut off all argument with a wave of his hand. "I told you how many times I had sex last night. You both deserve this. Let's go!"

Joven laughed, tears streaming down his face as he pushed Sohinki towards Mari. Sohinki punched him in the arm, then stared at Mari with an apologetic look.

"Fine, but I'll get you back for this," Mari snapped. Lasercorn nodded, guffawing. Mari gave Sohinki a determined stare, then grasped his shoulders and kissed him on the mouth.

At first, it was possibly the most awkward thing Mari had ever done. Lasercorn and Joven were cheering and laughing in the background, and it was distracting her. But then, she couldn't hear them anymore. She forgot everything but Sohinki, who was a surprisingly good kisser. They moved slowly, Sohinki pulling Mari into his lap as Joven hollered and clapped. Mari couldn't remember the last time she had felt this attracted to someone.

Sohinki didn't even remember pulling Mari into his lap. All of the sudden, she was there, and Sohinki didn't think he would be able to stop kissing her if he tried. He ran his fingers through her hair, and became vaguely aware of the fact that their ten seconds were long gone. He reluctantly detached himself from Mari, who looked…disappointed?

Joven and Lasercorn were laughing their asses off. "You couldn't stop, could you?" Joven choked out between gasps. Mari blushed and Sohinki frowned.

"Actually, I'm exhausted. I have to finish some things before bed, so I'm gonna go hit the showers," Sohinki muttered. Lasercorn laughed even harder.

"Aw, is widdle Sohinki embawassed?" Joven pouted in a baby voice. Mari looked at him, confused. He flipped Joven the bird and headed up to his room.

For a while, he just sat on his bed, thinking. He couldn't believe what he had just felt. The worst part was, he would never be able to feel it again. The more he thought about it, the more angry he got. At Lasercorn, for making up the dare. At Joven, for laughing. And even at Mari, for making him be so attracted to her. It wasn't fair.

Mari stayed in the hot tub with the guys for a while more, trying to brush off the incident. It still sat in the back of her mind, though. She couldn't believe what she had just experienced with Sohinki. It was like nothing she'd ever felt, not even with Peter. It was passionate, yet gentle and caring. And she couldn't shake it off.

No! She couldn't be falling for Sohinki; it was too weird. The whole Smosh crew would make fun of them until the end of days. Plus, there was no way Sohinki felt the same way. The way he ran out after it had happened must mean that he was uncomfortable, or that she had done it wrong or something. She shook her head and pushed herself out of the hot tub.

"I'm heading up too, guys. I'm tired," she yawned. Joven and Lasercorn both wished her good night, and she headed up.

She turned on the shower in the shared bathroom and slid into the warm water. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door.

"Hey, Mari, it's Matt. Can I grab my toothbrush?" Sohinki called.

"Sure, that's what shower curtains are for," Mari giggled. Sohinki pushed open the door and headed over to the sink.

"Hey, Matt, about that thing earlier… can we not talk about it, like, ever again?" Mari begged. Sohinki flushed with embarrassment, his heart effectively breaking in two.

"Sure thing, Mari," he muttered. He looked over in the direction of the the shower, then blushed and quickly turned away, horribly embarrassed.

He assumed Mari didn't know that he could see her faint outline through the sheer shower curtain. He ran out the door, slamming it behind him, and headed over to his bed that, unfortunately, he would have to share with Lasercorn. He stripped off his shirt and pants, and headed to bed in his long, worn-out sweatpants.

Mari came out of the bathroom ten minutes later, only to find Sohinki curled up and asleep on his bed. She blushed at his naked upper half, and then realized she was having a hard time not staring. She shook her head at the still-nagging thought of the kiss at the back of her mind and slid below the covers of the pullout couch. It would obviously never happen. Sohinki seemed like he hated her for it, and Mari didn't really know how to approach something like that.

But she couldn't help wanting to curl up next to him and just be near him.

Chapter 3

Cliche as it may sound, Sohinki dreamt of Mari that night. It seemed that the moment from earlier had somehow worked its way into his subconscious. In his dream, he and Mari were simply looking into each others' eyes. Sohinki grinned as he studied her warm, chocolate-colored eyes and dark, long lashes. Mari gazed back at him steadily. Sohinki finally had enough and pulled her in by her narrow shoulders for a kiss. Mari deepened the kiss, and and Sohinki kept it up until he felt like he would never be able to stop.

His eyes suddenly popped open. He was breathing hard, and his passionate dream was showing its… physical effects, if you will. His face was flushed, his hair soaked with sweat, and the feeling of Mari lingered on his lips. He brushed them gingerly, then snapped his hand back down to his side as a sleep-deprived Mari came stumbling back into the room.

"Sohin?" she murmured sleepily. "What are you doing awake? It's four in the morning, it's still dark out…" she trailed off, her big brown eyes cloudy with exhaustion.

"I could ask you the same question," Sohinki smirked. "I just had some…really strange dreams, that's all." He made a valiant effort to bunch his comforter over his lap so that Mari wouldn't see the lasting effects of his dream, but the direction of her gaze and the rising blush creeping over her face told him that he had been unsuccessful, so he crossed his arms over his lap, instead.

"I can see that," Mari laughed, surprisingly comfortable with the whole situation. Sohinki was awkward enough for the both of them.

"What are you doing up?" Sohinki turned the attention back to her. "You look like you've been up all night."

"I have…" Mari murmured. "I've just been…stuck on something that I can't seem to get out of my head."

Sohinki nodded. "I know what that's like," he muttered. They caught each other's gaze, blushed, and looked away. "I oughta try to get some sleep before we have to shoot tomorrow."

Mari nodded and stumbled sleepily away. Sohinki watched her go and wanted nothing more than to call her back.

Mari stumbled back into her bed and tried her best to keep her red-rimmed eyes closed. No matter how hard she tried, though, every time they closed, she saw Sohinki. She felt his lips on hers. And, unfortunately, she felt her mind and body both responding. So she would pop her eyes back open and try to forget about it.

But she couldn't.

How was it possible for her to be thinking this way? She had known Sohinki since what seemed like forever. He was like her brother, for God's sake! She had never thought about him that way! Sure, she had taken a bit of an extra-long look at him with his shirt off in the hot tub earlier, and so what if her heart had jumped a little bit earlier when his hand had touched hers when they were editing a few days ago. That didn't mean anything, it couldn't! There was no possible way that she could be falling for Sohinki. No way, she thought, turning over in her bed and shutting her eyes again.

They popped back open.

She let out a frustrated groan and heaved out of her bed into the kitchen, where she went ahead and put on the teakettle. It was morning, after all, even if it was still dark. She opened the curtains in the kitchen, gazing out onto the beautiful Washington D.C. skyline, sipping hot tea and letting it all flood through her veins. She sighed, happily this time, and sank into one of the armchairs adjacent to the kitchen.

For the first time all night, her eyes stayed closed this time. Her hand fell limp, with the teacup still in it.

At five in the morning, she finally fell asleep.

Anthony awoke with a start to his alarm.

"Damn it, Ian," he grumbled as he realized that Ian had changed his ringtone from his duck quack to a seriously annoying 'boinging' sound. He quickly shut it off and headed into the kitchen to start coffee before his workout.

He noticed a small red teakettle on the stove, which he recognized as Mari's. He peered around the divider and saw Mari slumped over in an oversized armchair, teacup still in her hand, fast asleep. He chuckled to himself, pried the teacup from her fingers, and grabbed his cup of coffee to go.

Joven was next to wake up and find Mari snoozing in the chair. He smiled to himself, and then suddenly came up with a brilliant, fantastic idea.

He snuck into Sohinki's room with a Nerf gun. Taking aim from the floor, he pulled the trigger just as the barrel fell on Sohinki's forehead.

"What the hell?" Sohinki shot up in bed just as Joven ducked into the small closet.

"Yes!" he pumped his fist and congratulated himself. Quietly, though. Sohinki had to do this part of the plan on his own.

Sohinki awoke with a start, although he couldn't say why. He also awoke with a strange sharp pain in the middle of his forehead. He peered in the mirror and frowned as a small red welt appeared there. He shrugged and headed into the kitchen to grab breakfast.

He smiled as he found Mari there, sleeping in one of the oversized armchairs. He found his gaze lingering on her full, perfect lips, and her sideswept hair.

"No, Sohinki, don't do this to yourself," he thought, shaking his head. Unfortunately, the movement made him dizzy enough to bump into the chair opposite of Mari's, causing him to fall over with a loud thump, which woke Mari up.

"…What? Oh, Matt, it's you…" she mumbled sleepily. Sohinki's face flushed red and he quickly backpedaled.

"Oh, God, sorry Mar! I was…just…uh…looking for a coffee mug and I forgot…that chair was there…" he trailed off as Mari gave him a confused look. He gave a weak smile and headed back into the kitchen.

"Oh my God," he mumbled to himself. "I'm am world's biggest dork," he buried his head in his hands on the kitchen counter. He quickly returned to a normal standing position as Mari stumbled into the kitchen, holding her head.

"I got literally no sleep last night," she moaned, slipping past him to grab her own mug. Sohinki closed his eyes as the smell of her hit him hard, then shook the thoughts out of his head.

"Yeah, I had some trouble, too," Sohinki mumbled. He raised the cup of coffee to his lips and inhaled deeply, just the scent of it waking him up a little bit.

Mari blushed as Sohinki closed his eyes and breathed in the deep smell of the coffee. She couldn't help but notice that his hair was sticking out in all directions.

Well, that, and he wasn't wearing a shirt.

She couldn't believe that she was still thinking like this, but the way she saw it, the quicker she accepted it, the quicker it would start going away. That, and he had remarkably nice abs.

Except it wasn't going away. At all. In fact, it was getting worse. And she really didn't think she could take much more of it without telling somebody.

She blinked quickly as she realized that she was still staring at Sohinki's naked upper half. Luckily, he still had his face buried in the coffee and was too tired to notice.

Unfortunately, neither of them realized that Joven was standing in the doorway, smirking at Mari.

"Morning, guys," he said innocently. Sohinki mumbled something that resembled a very nasty word, and Mari glared at him.

"Morning, Joven. Don't you have to edit or something?" she hissed.

"Well, I could, but I much prefer torturing you to editing," Joven smirked. Mari narrowed her eyes and poor Sohinki still looked confused.

"Why are you torturing Mari?" he asked sleepily. Joven slid a glance in Mari's direction, who bared her teeth and violently shook her head. He just smiled at her.

"Oh, nothing that you won't figure out on your own soon enough," he said, then headed off towards the bathroom. Sohinki raised his red-rimmed eyes toward Mari.

"Do you have any idea what he's talking about?" he asked. Mari just shook her head and headed off after Joven, hands balled into fists. Sohinki just shrugged and poured himself another cup of coffee.

Chapter 4

"JOVEN!" Mari screeched, barging her way into the bathroom. Joven turned to her innocently, shaving cream dripping off of his chin.

"Yeeesss?" he drawled, smiling. Mari shot daggers at him.

"What the HELL were you trying to do in there?" she yelled. "What, did you think you were being cute? Or funny? What? What was it?" she continued. Joven turned back to the mirror.

"Nothing, Mari. Just noticed the way you were looking at him and thought I would give you a hard time, that's all," he snickered. Mari shook her head at him.

"I was NOT looking at him in any particular way, Joven! I don't know what you're thinking, but keep it to yourself, you big creep!" she hollered.

Joven slammed his razor down on the sink and turned to smirk at her. "So you're telling me that you couldn't STAND the kiss with him last night? And you HATED seeing him without a shirt? That you didn't feel any of that? It was pretty clearly written on your face about ten seconds ago, Mari! That, and the fact that you both went about twenty seconds over the ten-second limit on that kiss dare last night!" he hollered right back. "Look, I don't really care how you feel about him. It bores me, really. But I want to see both of you happy. And I know something is going on between you two, Mari."

Mari glared at him. "None of that is true! You're making it all up for some gross fantasy in your head or something, Joven. Just quit embarrassing me just to give yourself a fucking laugh!"

Joven turned away from her and back to the mirror. "Whatever you say, Mari SOHINKI!" he laughed. She slammed the door behind her. She turned at the last second and yelled at the closed door, "And I am NOT in love with ANYBODY, you freak!"

Sohinki caught the last part of Mari's rampage, and wondered briefly where it came from. He couldn't really remember much of last night, considering how tired he had been, but he didn't think they had discussed Mari being in love, or even having a crush on anyone. He was briefly disappointed, but then he shook it off as best he could.

"No way, Sohinki, you're not getting burned again. This is why you can't have a crush on Mari," He thought to himself. He headed back into the shared bedroom, quickly got dressed and brushed out his bedhead, and headed into the living room where Ian, Anthony, and Lasercorn were already sitting, talking and laughing.

"Morning, nerds," Sohinki grinned at them. Ian stuck his tongue out at him, and Lasercorn just laughed.

"Good morning, sexypants," he smirked at Sohinki.

"Oh dear Lord, please tell me you aren't trying to give me another new nickname," Sohinki groaned. Lasercorn just smiled.

"Nope. I was just sharing with our dear friends the events of what went on in the hot tub last night," he grinned evilly. Sohinki just shrugged and plopped down on the couch.

"You and Mari KISSED?!" Ian shrieked, crawling over Anthony to get to Sohinki. "You HAVE to tell me EVERYTHING!" he exclaimed, clasping his hands in a begging motion.

Sohinki blushed and laughed. "There's nothing to tell. Lasercorn dared me to kiss Mari, and seeing as I didn't want to be called a weenie for the rest of the trip, I did. End of story."

"Ah, but no it isn't!" Lasercorn hollered. "You left out the part where we said you had to kiss for ten seconds, and it ended up being thirty!"

Sohinki's eyes widened and his face turned red. Ian looked at him, mouth wide open in shock. "REALLY?! Sohinki's in loooove, Sohinki's in loooove, Soh-"

Sohinki clapped a hand over his mouth. "Shut up!" he hissed. "You guys are such weirdos. It was not that long, and I count really slow anyway. It was just a kiss!"

Lasercorn chuckled. "Yeah, just a kiss that made you fall in LOVE!" Sohinki shook his head and flipped him off, turning on the TV with his other hand to check the weather report.

"I'm not in love, you guys. We're all friends. It would be really weird anyway, if I was. But I'm not."

Anthony had finally had enough. He grabbed Sohinki's arm and marched into the shared bedroom.

"Ow! What the hell, dude?" Sohinki complained, rubbing the welts Anthony had left on his bicep.

"Sohinki, I'm going to ask you a very simple question. Don't you dare lie to me," Anthony fiercely leveled his gaze at Sohinki, who swallowed and nodded. "Don't think about it. Tell me the first answer that pops into your head. Okay?" He nodded at Anthony.

"Alright. Matt. Are you in love with Mari?" Anthony demanded.

Sohinki found himself nodding, much to his horror. His face flushed red and he clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Then that's it. Man up and tell her, Sohinki," Anthony smiled. Sohinki shook his head violently.

"No! I know for a fact that she doesn't have feelings for me. She avoided me all last night and was acting really weird this morning. I think the kiss made her uncomfortable. Look, it'll go away soon enough, and then we'll all go back to being just friends." he protested, but Anthony shook his head.

"Maybe she's been acting weird because she LIKED the kiss," Anthony smirked, then slipped out of the bedroom.

That couldn't be the reason. Mari couldn't feel the same way! She was a beautiful, amazing, smart, sexy, funny person. He was a short, awkward nerd. People like that didn't mix! Girls like that never even came near him. And besides, Mari was his friend! It would be weird…right?

Sohinki shook his head and crept out of the hotel room without anyone noticing, grasping his swimsuit and heading for the pool. Maybe swimming a few laps would take his mind off all of…whatever this was.

Mari went ahead and left the hotel room a few minutes ahead of the boys, who were still watching the ultimate wrestling match on TV. She headed down the elevator and over to the reception desk to grab a map of the city. She figured that she had a few hours at least before they started shooting, so she wanted to go over to the Museum of Natural History before they did.

It was kind of her little secret. She was absolutely nuts for anything to do with animals.

She passed by the hotel pool and a man cutting through the water caught her eye. Who on earth would be crazy enough to swim at this hour? It was cold! She leaned around the door for a closer look and suddenly realized that it was Sohinki.

She had no idea that he was as strong as he was. She sat in a chair, mesmerized, as she watched his toned arms slice through the clear water. He was swimming so fast, and the way the water glinted off of his shaggy brown hair…she couldn't move. He was just so…beautiful.

He stood up at the edge of the pool and pulled himself out, finally realizing someone was watching him.

"Hey, stalker," he grinned at her.

Mari blushed and tried to hide her change in color with her tousled ebony hair. "Hey, yourself," she smiled back at him. "Aren't you cold?"

"Little bit," he chuckled, grabbing his towel to dry himself off. "What are you doing down here so early?"

Mari smiled. "I was heading over to do some sightseeing, maybe tour the Museum of Natural History."

Sohinki looked over at her. "Sounds kind of fun! Any chance I could tag along? I could hang out with the guys, but I'm not really into ultimate face-smashing, so…" he laughed.

Mari blushed again. She couldn't believe that Sohinki actually wanted to go somewhere with her! Just the two of them! She could barely contain herself, but she managed a small smile. "Well, I guess that would be alright, but we can only go for a few hours. We start shooting at two."

Sohinki grinned. "Awesome! Let me run up and grab some actual clothes, and you can see if you can find the bus schedule. I'll let the guys know where we're going."

Mari smiled up at him. "Sounds…great," she said.

Sohinki managed to get until the elevator before actually punching his fist into the air. He couldn't believe that he had held it together! How on earth had he managed to sound so…confident? Inside he had been absolutely terrified. But somehow, he had managed to get almost an entire day alone with Mari.

He arrived at his floor and unlocked the Smosh hotel room. The guys were all still laying in front of the TV, hollering at somebody named "The Grinder".

"Hey, SoSLINKY." Lasercorn popped his head up from the couch pillows. "Where'd you sneak off to?"

"Hotel pool to do a few laps. I'm actually heading back out to go to one of the museums for a couple hours before we start shooting."

"Hey, where's Mari?" Ian stuck his head up too. Lasercorn grinned at Sohinki and raised an eyebrow.

"She's down in reception looking for a map." Sohinki had no intention of telling the guys that he and Mari were spending the afternoon together. "She wanted to go over and look at…some of the monuments. So she's down finding her a bus and finding me a bus."

"Mhm, whatever you say, Sohinki," Anthony smirked before turning back to the TV. Sohinki snorted and went off to change.

He found Mari down in reception, clutching a map and a bus schedule. He grinned and waved at her. She smiled back and hurried over. "Look! There's a bus coming by the hotel in five minutes that can pick us up and drop us off a few blocks from the museum!" she noticed the incredulous look on Sohinki's face. "Well, I mean… you don't have to come if you don't want. I'll probably be taking pictures all afternoon and talking your ear off and-"

Sohinki cut her off. "Mari, come on. Anything is better than hanging with those losers upstairs," he chuckled. Somehow, he was managing to keep his cool, even though he was cheering like a desperate loser inside. Mari gave him her trademark grin and he heard the bus pull up outside. Mari slid on her sunglasses and pulled Sohinki onto the bus by his forearm, and they were off.

Chapter 5

Sohinki couldn't believe how fascinated Mari was by the museum. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself as Mari scampered around from exhibit to exhibit, taking pictures and pointing out details to Sohinki as he trailed along behind her.

Mari couldn't help herself. She felt like a kid in a candy store. Everywhere she turned, there was a new fact, or a model progression, or something else that completely demanded her attention. She was totally fascinated. As they continued on to the next room, Mari gasped as she realized that they were in the butterfly house.

"Oh my God, Sohinki, we have to try it! Please come with me?" Mari begged, pulling Sohinki towards the house with her. He laughed and nodded, and they got tickets from the attendant and pushed through the doors.

Mari stood, mesmerized. There were butterflies everywhere. Some of them she recognized from her animal books at home. Some were totally new to her. She laughed like a child as one landed on her head, then on her finger. Sohinki was gazing at her, enjoying her wonder. She caught his gaze and held her hands up as if to say, "How cool is this?" She waved him over and he approached her. She grabbed his hand and brought it up to hers, letting the butterfly walk from her finger to his. Sohinki's heart felt about fifty times lighter than it usually did. He couldn't believe that Mari was touching his hand, even if it was just to show him a butterfly. They looked at each other and giggled, and Mari stared in amazement at the multicolored beauty perching on Sohinki's finger.

The butterfly flew from Sohinki's finger back to Mari's nose. She giggled with delight. Then she realized Sohinki was staring at her with a soft smile on his face. Out of habit, she almost blurted, "What are you looking at, SoKINKY?" But she couldn't. She had caught Sohinki's gaze and she felt like she would never be able to look away from his sea-breeze eyes. Without breaking eye contact, he put his finger by her nose and it hopped back onto his finger. He brushed Mari's hair away from her face and let the butterfly fly free off of the other.

He couldn't believe what he was doing. It was like he was possessed. He found himself staring into her gorgeous brown eyes and felt his body unconsciously moving closer into hers. She didn't break her gaze. In fact, she moved in closer to him. He caught her hands in between his and kissed the back of one of them. She blushed, but pulled him in closer to her.

And then, suddenly, by some unconscious will, they sunk into a sweet, deep kiss. Mari couldn't believe what she was doing. But her heart was so happy. She wound her hands around Sohinki's neck, and felt his twine around her hips. She had never felt so much love for someone in her life. All she could feel at that moment was Matt.

Sohinki couldn't believe that it was finally happening. He had wanted to do this ever since Lasercorn's stupid dare. He deepened the kiss as he felt her body respond to his. They melted together, both of them smiling into the kiss.

They broke apart as a gorgeously colored blue butterfly alighted on Mari's hand, which was now on the back of Sohinki's head. They both jumped back, blushing and laughing. Sohinki looked up at Mari first.

"So…better or worse than Lasercorn's stupid dare?" he chuckled as Mari's face turned bright red.

"I'm not going to lie, Sohinki…that was…amazing. But…" she trailed off, catching Sohinki's gaze.

He understood immediately. "Mari, don't worry about it. It was stupid of me. Why don't we just finish the tour and head on back to the hotel, and we don't ever have to mention this again, okay?"

Mari could tell he was being genuine and that he wasn't angry with her. "You're not…mad?"

Sohinki chuckled. "Of course I'm not mad, Mari. I totally get it. It's been….what, twelve hours since we kissed the first time? You need time to figure it out. And we will. Figure it out, I mean."

Mari almost fainted with relief. "Thank you, Sohin. You're the absolute best…I don't really know what you are right now. But I promise that I will come straight to you when I do." She slipped her small, thin hand into his. "Come on, let's finish the tour," she smiled.

They held hands the rest of the way through the tour, then immediately let go as soon as they got on the bus back to the hotel.

They stood in the lobby, looking at the floor and stalling. Finally, Sohinki spoke up.

"I told the guys that we were going different places, so you go up first, and then I can follow in a minute or two." Mari nodded and headed towards the elevator.

"Oh, and Mari?" she turned at the sound of Sohinki's smooth voice calling to her.

"Yeah, Sohin?"

"You know where to find me," he gave a small smile and gestured her on towards the elevators.

Mari blushed and nodded, then headed back up to the room.

She entered the hotel room a few minutes after stepping on the elevator, where her thoughts had swirled around in her head like a tornado. She didn't think that she had ever been so confused before.

She'd also never experienced anything like that kiss.

It had been absolutely perfect. It shouldn't have been, though! It was Sohinki! He was like her brother, as much as Anthony or Ian was! She leaned her head in her hands and propped herself up against the door frame, before taking a deep breath and unlocking the door.

The boys were inside, a whirlwind of activity, getting ready to shoot a quick Game Bang before the virtual reality test tomorrow. Mari giggled as Anthony put Ian in a headlock and managed to shove his face into the floor for no apparent reason. Ian finally got up and noticed her.

"Mari! Where were you?" Ian asked, incredulous. Mari blushed, then shook her head.

"Just checking out a couple of the monuments. I've never been to DC before, you know," she smiled in a pathetic attempt at a lie. Ian didn't look entirely convinced, but he nodded slowly and turned back to setting up a camera.

Several minutes later, Sohinki had returned and the group had settled in.

"GAME BANG!" They all hollered.

"What's up, guys, Joven here! Welcome to Washington, D.C.!" Joven smiled as the rest of the group cheered. "As you can see, we don't have a lot of our regular equipment, so that means we will NOT be playing a video game today, but instead, we're gonna be playing Adult Loaded Questions again for you guys!" Lasercorn sat on Joven and stared into the camera.

"Today's punishment, for the two with the lowest number of points, will be that one winner will ask each loser a Loaded Question of their own. The loser MUST answer truthfully," he grinned evilly. The rest of the Smoshers cracked up.

"Loaded bang!" Mari yelled.

"Adult bang!" Ian shouted.

"Bang the adults!" Anthony cried, and everyone turned and gave him a strange look. "What?!" he laughed.

"Alright, it's Lasercorn's turn to have the question about him. Everyone, PENCILS READY!" Joven hollered in a deep, game-announcer voice.

"Lasercorn, your question is: If you were in a room with Lasercorn for the rest of your life and only had one thing with you, what would it be?" Everyone started scribbling on their cards and handed them over to Joven.

"The first card reads: A gun with one bullet in it," Joven read. Everyone burst out laughing and Lasercorn managed to look very offended.

"Second card….. who the hell wrote 'dildos'?!" Joven looked completely grossed out and everyone else had tears streaming down their cheeks. They kept going through the rest of the cards, which ranged from "lingerie" to "a tattoo gun".

"Alright, Lasercorn, that gives you two points! Mari's up next, and her question is… What is Mari's best quality?" The group began scribbling, and Mari blushed. God knows what they would write down.

"Alright, ready, Mari?" she nodded. "First card reads…personality."

Mari smiled. "That's gotta be Ian." Ian smiled and clapped as Joven gave her a point.

"Next card…her…ass?" Joven laughed, and Mari pointed at Lasercorn, who nodded, chuckling, giving her another point.

"Alright, this one says…her dancing!" Mari laughed and shrugged, taking a wild guess and pointing to Anthony, who shook his head. "Aw, no point for you!"

"Next one… her legs," Joven laughed again. Mari pointed at Anthony once again, who nodded this time, laughing.

"Alright, Mari, you only need one more point to not be in the punishment! Your last card reads… aw, this is too cute…it says, 'How could I possibly choose?'" Joven put a hand on his heart and gave a creepy smile.

Mari looked straight at Sohinki, who had a panicked look in his eyes. There was no way she could actually give a straight answer on camera, it would just embarrass him. So, she lied.

"Um, you, Joven?" she questioned. Joven laughed and shook his head.

"YOU LOSE!" the team shouted, cracking Mari up. She looked at Sohinki, who looked totally relieved.

The team finally got down to the punishment part of the game. "Alright, Lasercorn, since you won, you get to ask Ian his question," Joven instructed. Lasercorn stared right at Ian.

"Ian, what was your last dream that had Anthony in it about?" Lasercorn grinned. Ian smiled innocently.

"Totally raw, animal sex," he said with a straight face, making everyone die laughing.

"Alright, Sohinki, you get to ask Mari her question!" Joven cried, raising an eyebrow. Mari glared at him.

"Okay, Mari…what's your worst fear?" Sohinki asked, staring directly at her. She grinned and blushed.

"Rejection," she said with a small smile. The rest of the group laughed.

"I swear, Mari, if you ever ask me out, I would NEVER reject you," Joven gave her a creepy smile.

"I would, but you're clearly GAY!" Mari hollered at him with a big smile on her face. Everyone burst out laughing.

"It's true," Lasercorn said in a Terminator-style voice. "We're trying to have BABEEZ."

"Oh my God, it's time for Game Bang to be over," Anthony gasped.

"GAME BANG!" they all shouted gleefully at the camera.

Sohinki never thanked her for covering for him, and Mari was seriously relieved to have avoided the awkward situation. Sohinki was completely embarrassed; he couldn't say what possessed him to write what he did. Thank God Mari had understood.

He had to get her out of his head. Somehow, he would. He would figure it out. Anyway, he figured, she probably didn't want to be with him. If she had, she wouldn't have been so weird about the kiss earlier.

Finally, he decided that he had been alone with his thoughts too long and decided to head down to the Starbucks that was in the lobby. He ordered his usual, a medium caramel machiatto, and took his drink (which Jovenshire constantly argued was a girly drink) over to one of the cafe-style tables out on the patio.

He hadn't been alone for more than about thirty seconds when a tall blonde girl came up to him.

"Um, excuse me, I couldn't help but notice your shirt. Is that DOTA?" she asked him.

Sohinki smiled. "Yeah, it's my favorite game."

The girl smiled back at him. "Mine, too! My name's Amanda, I'm staying here over the weekend. What about you?"

He looked back down at his coffee. "I'm Matt. I'm here for a little bit."

Amanda winked at him, then dropped a small, folded up napkin next to his drink. "Any chance I could get your number? I would love to go out with you one night."

Sohinki froze, then slowly looked back up at her. "I can't, I'm sorry. I'm kind of already taken."

She pouted, then smiled again. "Lucky girl, then. I'll see you around. And if you get bored, call me." She strolled away. Sohinki took the folded napkin and tucked it into his shirt.

Later, on his trip back up the elevator, he thought about Amanda. Why had he turned her down? She was a gorgeous girl who loved DOTA and was available. He knew the answer, even if he didn't want to admit it.

She wasn't Mari.

He shook his head and unlocked the hotel room door. He snuck into his hotel room, hoping to sneak by the others without them noticing, grabbed his swimsuit, and went down to the hotel pool to clear his head.

He quickly changed and dove into the clear blue water, cutting through it easily with strong, fluid motions. He got to the end of the pool, flipped over, and streaked back through the pool.

He didn't know which felt better, the stress slowly leaving his mind, or the wonderfully sore arm muscles he was getting. Either way, he was starting to clear his head.

Finally, he got tired, and released all the air from his tired lungs, sinking down to the pool floor. He stayed there, enjoying the way the cool water felt against his skin, for as long as he could until he finally kicked off the bottom and exploded through the surface, drawing in air.

He pulled himself up and out of the pool, biceps strained and aching, and grabbed one of the complimentary towels to dry himself off. Suddenly, he noticed a familiar figure sprawled out on one of the lounge chairs.

Mari.

Had she been there the whole time? He'd been so eager to get into the water that he hadn't even noticed her. He tried not to disturb her as he slipped into the hot tub to let his muscles relax. Then he noticed that she was tanning with the back tie of her bikini undone. Not that she was showing anything, but still.

God, was she trying to kill him?

He deliberately turned away from her and sunk deeper into the hot tub, feeling the stress and uncertainty of the day melt away. He noticed the sun was setting over the Washington, D.C. skyline, and took a moment to revel in it.

He suddenly felt someone's…tongue in his ear?

"GAH!" he yelled, whipping around to see Joven, Lasercorn, Anthony and Ian all convulsing with laughter. Mari had retied her bathing suit top and was walking over to join them.

"Damn, Sohinki, I didn't know you could swim," Lasercorn laughed. He and the rest of the group made their way into the hot tub to join him.

"Hobby," Sohinki muttered, closing his eyes. His muscles were too exhausted to actually get out, so he just figured he would try to tune them out.

"So, did you guys hear about what happened in THIS VERY HOT TUB last night?!" Joven hollered. Sohinki's blood ran cold. He tried to kick Joven underwater but missed, getting Ian instead, who shot him a dirty look.

"You told us earlier, you genius! But, I still can't quite believe it," Anthony laughed. "I mean, our little Sohinki is growing up…"

"OKAY! Before this gets too out of proportion…" Sohinki yelled. "It was a stupid dare. We were playing Truth or Dare, and Lasercorn was being a little bitch, and his dare was that I had to kiss Mari. That was it. Nothing actually happened."

Mari hated to admit it, but she felt a little deflated when she heard those words come out of Sohinki's mouth.

"STILL!" Ian shouted. "I can't believe you two kissed and didn't tell me! I have to know these things!"

"What 'things'? It was a dare!" Sohinki shot back. A pang of sadness shot through Mari, but she brushed it off. It had, after all, been just a dare.

But this afternoon hadn't.

The teasing continued well into the night, Mari and Sohinki being the butt of every single joke that the other four could come up with. Finally, Mari got tired of it.

"Alright, as glad as I am that you were entertained, I'm tired," she said, annoyance obvious in her voice.

"Aw, Mari, we were just joking," Joven protested as she stalked off.

"She'll get over it," Lasercorn chuckled, stretching his long, thin arms over the sides of the hot tub.

Sohinki felt bad for Mari. Hell, he was pissed off, too. He knew if he went after her, it would only make both of them the butt of more jokes and harassment. But he also knew that she was upset, and he wanted to comfort her. So he compromised with himself. He sat with the rest of the guys for another ten minutes, laughing and smiling as best he could. Eventually Ian went and got the guys a six-pack, at which point Sohinki got out of the hot tub.

"Hey, where you going, man?" Joven slurred, obviously buzzed. Sohinki shook his head.

"I don't drink," he said firmly, and got out of there and back up to the hotel room.

Lasecorn,, Joven, Anthony, and Ian all looked at each other, shrugged, and went back to their four man party.

Chapter 6

Mari finally got back up to the hotel room, horribly confused and angry all at the same time. Mostly, she was angry at the guys, who had basically been making fun of her the entire night. But she was also angry with herself for not telling Sohinki exactly how she felt.

She was also just plain sad. She couldn't believe the way that her stomach had dropped when Sohinki had brushed the kiss off as "just a dare". She had told herself earlier that she didn't feel anything.

She had been lying to herself.

Okay, so maybe she had feelings for Sohinki. Just a few, though, nothing uncontrollable or anything like that!

Right?

She put her head in her hands and groaned, then hopped in the shower to wash the chlorine out of her hair. She stayed in until her hands got all pruny, then finally got out and wrapped her long ebony hair in a towel.

She had thought that she was the only one in the room, until she heard the other shower running. She figured Ian had come back upstairs to embarrass her further, so she snuck into the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea, then went back to hole up in her room for the rest of the night.

She heard gleeful shouts from outside and pulled her drapes back. Joven, Lasercorn, Ian, and Anthony were shoving each other around in the hot tub. Sohinki was nowhere to be seen. She realized that he was the one in the shower.

When she finally heard the shower turn off, she waited ten minutes, then knocked on his door.

"Sohin? Can I come in?" she asked quietly. She heard a muffled "yes" from the other side of the room, and slowly turned the doorknob.

She found Sohinki sitting on the edge of his bed, head in his hands.

"You okay?" she murmured, sitting down beside him. He nodded. "Why aren't you still out there with the guys?"

"They started drinking, so I came in." Sohinki groaned, rolling back on the bed.

"Do you not drink, if you don't mind my asking?" Mari crossed her legs on the bed, propping herself up by Sohinki's head.

"My dad was an alcoholic. I try to avoid it at all costs, and I really hate it when my friends drink," he said, hands still covering his face.

Mari put a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry, Sohinki. That really sucks." They both realized where her hand was, and Mari pulled it back quickly, making both of them blush.

"It's alright," Sohinki quipped, sitting back up to face Mari. "I can't really control it, and I know it's none of my business what the others do, but I can't help being nervous around it."

Mari nodded. "I totally understand," she said quietly. The two sat that way for a while, looking down at the bed, until Mari finally uncrossed her legs.

"Well, I'm going to go read for a while, then probably crash for the night. I'll see you tomorrow, Sohin."

Sohinki held out a hand to stop her. "Wait, Mari, I'm sorry if what the guys said earlier made you angry or upset. They were just being their usual douchey selves."

Mari shook her head. "I was kind of upset, but not really because of that. There was just…something else that I was thinking about."

Sohinki tilted his head, curious. "What is it?"

Mari sighed and sat back down. "Earlier, when you were talking about…our kiss, you said it was…just a dare. I don't really know why, but it kind of made me sad that you thought of it that way. Did you…really not feel anything that night?" she continued, making a point not to look at Sohinki.

He grabbed her by the hands. "Mari, I would be a big, fat liar if I said I didn't feel anything that night. I don't think I've ever felt anything like that before. I was just saying that because I knew that if I said anything else, we would never hear the end of it. I was remembering how you had said you needed some time to figure things out, and I didn't want the guys making fun of you. That's it."

Mari nodded slowly, then got up off the bed. "Thank you, Sohin. That really means a lot to me." She started out the door, then changed her mind and came back towards Sohinki. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "I still can't really say I know what I want. But I do know that you are the most wonderful man I have ever met. And I really do love you. I don't know if I'm sure that I love you that way yet, but I know that I do love you." She skipped back out of the room into her own.

Sohinki smiled. He understood more than she knew. And he trusted her to figure it out and to talk to him when she did.

Mari was still up when the rest of the guys came back inside, laughing loudly and being generally obnoxious.

"Shut up! Sohinki's asleep!" Mari hissed at them. They ignored her and kept talking loudly.

"Oh, shut up, Mari!" Joven slurred, trying his best not to fall over sideways. The others found this exceedingly funny.

"Don't you tell me to shut up!" Mari hollered at Joven, getting in his face. Something had snapped in her. She couldn't decide if it was because of what had happened this morning or a few minutes ago, but she was furious with Joven.

Joven stared back at her, amused. "Ooh, Mari's feeling feisty tonight," he giggled. "Come at me, bitch," he smirked.

Mari had had it.

"Where the HELL do you get off calling me a bitch?!" she screamed, launching herself at him with every intent to severely injure him. The other guys stood back in awe. Joven tried to grab Mari as she smacked him across his stupid drunk face.

Sohinki poked his head out of his door and saw the fight going on in the living room. As he ran toward the two, Anthony finally snapped out of it and tried to grab Joven, who simply pulled his fist back and punched Anthony in the nose. Anthony went down, bleeding, and Joven turned back to Mari, who had just punched him in the stomach.

Ian saw Anthony go down and made a grab for Mari instead, since she was a little smaller. She tried to shove Ian off, but he was decently strong, and managed to restrain her balled fists.

Sohinki went straight for Joven.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, asshole?!" he yelled right in Joven's face. Joven laughed at him and patted the top of his head.

"Just havin' some fun, Sokinky," he slurred, laughing.

"You're drunk, aren't you? You're fucking DRUNK!" Sohinki screamed at him, shoving him back by the shoulders. Joven looked like he was about to deck Sohinki, then thought better of it and turned back towards his room, stalking off.

Ian still had a hold of Mari, who was trying to get at Joven's retreating back. Lasercorn was on the floor with Anthony, holding a dishtowel to his bleeding face. Sohinki was breathing hard and staring a hole through Joven's shut door. Finally, he snapped out of it and turned to Ian and Mari.

"Mari, it's okay. He's just being an asshole." Sohinki tried to get her to look at him, but she was still fighting.

"That LOSER called me a BITCH!" she spat.

Ian nodded at Sohinki and the two pulled her into Sohinki's room. She finally stopped trying to kill Joven, but she had a murderous glare on her face.

"Mari, he's just had a little too much to drink. He doesn't know what he's saying," Ian looked at her. She swung her glare towards him.

"I can't believe you're defending that jerk!" she cried. Ian was taken aback at the sudden shift in her rage.

"I'm not defending him! I didn't say he was right to call you that stuff, I was just telling you he was drunk!" Ian defended himself.

"I bet you're drunk, too, asshole," Mari accused.

"Mari, come on, leave Ian out of this. He's just trying to help," Sohinki pleaded with her. Finally, she sighed.

"You're right, of course. I'm sorry, Ian. He just gets on my last nerve sometimes, that's all," Mari apologized.

Ian smiled. "It's all right, Mari, and I don't blame you for thinking I'm drunk either. I did have one beer, but then I decided to stop because I hate being drunk."

Mari looked at both of them. "Thank you guys. I'm so sorry. I guess I just lost it for a second," she murmured.

Ian hugged her. "I probably would have done the same thing," he admitted. Sohinki felt a pang of jealousy, because Ian got to hug Mari. He brushed it off, though. Now was not the time.

"Why don't I make all three of us some tea and we can watch the football game?" Sohinki suggested. Ian nodded enthusiastically and Mari pumped a fist in the air.

"I LOVE football!" she yelled. Sohinki chuckled at her.

"I know," he said, then left the room to put the tea kettle on.

Lasercorn and Anthony were standing over the sink. Anthony's nose was still bleeding.

"Oh, geez, I forgot he hit you," Sohinki said. He rushed over to the two. "Uh, Anthony, your nose is pretty crooked…"

"I think he broke it," Anthony moaned. Lasercorn looked at Sohinki.

"I'm going to go with you over to the hospital so they can x-ray it," Sohinki said. "Lasercorn, you stay here and watch the football game with Mari and Ian."

Lasercorn nodded and leaned into Sohinki. "I swear I didn't drink a thing," he whispered to Sohinki, who nodded.

"I believe you, but I still want you here with Mari. Okay?" he demanded. Lasercorn nodded, then put on the tea kettle for the three of them and headed back towards Sohinki's room.

Sohinki led Anthony downstairs, where the two caught a cab and headed over to the hospital.

Around three in the morning, Sohinki and Anthony arrived back at the hotel. Mari and Ian were still up.

"What are you guys doing up?" Sohinki asked sleepily.

"We wanted to wait up for you guys and make sure Anthony was okay," Mari exclaimed, rushing over to the two of them. Ian gingerly brushed the bandage across the bridge of Anthony's nose.

"It's alright," Anthony groaned. "The doctor said it was a clean break, so he popped it back in place and said the bandage only needs to stay on for a week."

"I was kind of worried when you never came back to the room, but Lasercorn explained everything to me," Mari explained. "We watched the football game, and then Lasercorn fell asleep on your bed so Ian and I came out here to wait for you."

Sohinki nodded. "I wanted to make sure Anthony got taken care of, so I went with him."

Mari grinned. "You missed a good football game," she teased. Sohinki laughed.

"Well, I guess I'm out of a bed," Sohinki grumped. All four of them laughed. "Hey, let's all sleep over in the living room!" Ian suggested.

Anthony nodded. "That way, if I stop breathing through my nose, someone can wake me up before I die," he chuckled.

Sohinki nodded. "I don't have anywhere else to sleep, so what the hell," he said.

Mari laughed. "I feel like I'm ten again! I'm in!"

The four of them stretched out on couches and recliners in the living room, easily sinking into a deep sleep. Ian and Anthony woke up early to find that Mari and Sohinki's hands had entwined by their own will sometime during the night. They both smiled and went on about their morning.

Mari awoke the next morning to find that she was the last one up.

She needed to talk to someone about her kiss with Sohinki. Otherwise, she felt like she was going to explode.

"Hey, Anthony," she started as he walked into the kitchen to get another cup of coffee. "Can I run something by you real quick?"

"Sure, what's up?" Anthony agreed.

"Not here," Mari hissed, pulling him into his room.

"What are you doing?" Anthony exclaimed as she shut the door.

"What I'm about to tell you does not leave this room. Do you understand?" she demanded. Anthony, seeing how serious she was, nodded and settled in to listen.

"Okay. Okay. So I kind of lied about where I went the other day," she began.

"Where did you go?" Anthony questioned.

"Sohinki and I…kind of went to tour a museum together," she continued, glaring as Anthony's face lit up. "I just wanted company! And he was right there, and he said he wanted to go, and..I don't know."

"So, you and Sohinki went on a date! That's fantastic!" Anthony exclaimed. Mari shook her head.

"I wouldn't really call it a date. But on our tour, we visited this butterfly house, and while we were in there…we kinda kissed. Again," she finished.

Anthony smiled and hugged her. "I'm so happy for you!"

She shook her head again. "No! Because I'm so confused! I mean, I don't think I've ever felt anything like that before, but…I don't know if I'm in love with him. How do you know?" she begged. Anthony steeled his gaze at her.

"I'm going to ask you a question. Say the first answer that comes into your mind."

Mari nodded.

"Are you in love with Sohinki?" Anthony demanded.

"YES." Mari blurted out, her face going red.

"Then, that settles it. You are completely, hopelessly in love with Sohinki," he told her.

She shook her head, confused. "I'm scared to tell him."

Anthony laughed. "Jesus, Mari, don't you see it? The way he looks at you, the way he talks to you, the way he kissed you the other night? If that's not love, then I'll shave my head," he chuckled.

"Dang, that's serious," Mari joked, then became stoic again. "I just… I think he might be a little upset because I told him I needed some time to figure things out," she confessed.

Anthony got up to leave. "You do what you're comfortable with. But I don't think he's mad at all. I think he's in love with you, too."

Anthony grinned as he shut the door behind him. Eventually, one of them would swallow their pride and it would happen. That stupid question thing worked every time.

Chapter 7

As the rest of the Smosh team gathered in the living room, a very hung-over Joven stood up.

"I want to apologize for last night. I realize that I drank too much and that things got out of hand. Anthony," he turned to a bandaged Anthony. "I'm glad to pay your hospital fees, considering I'm the one who caused the damage. And Mari, I'm sorry I said those things to you last night. I didn't mean any of it." Joven hung his head like a sad puppy dog.

"Well, I may take you up on the free hospital visit, but it's all good, man. Every screws up sometimes," Anthony grinned. The rest of the crew nodded and quickly forgave Joven, who started to smile again.

"The awards ceremony is tonight!" Mari squealed. "I'm beyond excited!" The rest of the group laughed at her enthusiasm.

"Well, I'm going to have to figure out a way to rock this bandage on my nose," Anthony grumbled, getting another laugh out of everyone.

"I guess I can help you with that one, since I did break your nose," Joven shrugged, grinning.

"I need someone to go shopping for a dress with me," Mari pouted. "I have to look super fabulous tonight."

All of the guys looked at one another. None of them knew the first thing about dress shopping.

"I may have an idea," Sohinki murmured. "Give me just a minute."

He stepped outside of the living room and took the small, folded up napkin out of his pocket. He dialed the number on it and the phone rang twice before a female voice picked up.

"Hello?"

"Amanda, it's Matt. The guy from the Starbucks the other day. I was wondering if you could help me out with something…"

Sohinki ended his phone call and went back into the living room.

"Okay, Mari, I found you a dress shopping partner. I think you two will have fun," he grinned.

"Really? Who is it?" Mari asked eagerly.

"It's a surprise. You're supposed to go get your nails done, then meet her at the bus station so that you two can go to some well-known dress shop," Sohinki explained. The rest of the guys smiled at him.

"Well, isn't that nice of you," Lasercorn grinned. Sohinki smirked at him.

Mari stepped out of the nail salon and into a cab, on her way to the bus station to meet her "mystery dress shopping date". She was a little creeped out by the whole thing, but she trusted Sohinki. She arrived at the bus station to see a tall blonde wearing a Minecraft shirt waving crazily at her.

"Hi! You must be Mari!" she gushed. "Sohinki's told me LOADS about you."

Mari grinned back. "He's a charmer, all right. Who are you?"

"Oh my God, where are my manners? My name is Amanda," she continued. "To tell you the truth, I met Matt trying to get a date for Saturday night, but he told me he was taken, so I'm assuming you're his mystery girl," she smiled knowingly at Mari, whose heart had suddenly started to flutter.

"I guess you could say that," Mari smiled slowly. "Anyway, where are we going?"

"I actually have connections with a super popular dress designer up in Arlington, so we're going to go see him. Don't trust the gamer t-shirt," she smiled. "I'm a HUGE fashion buff, and you are going to knock Matt's socks off tonight."

Mari grinned. "That sounds…pretty awesome." The two girls hopped on the next bus, giggling, and went on their way.

They arrived at a small street corner, where Amanda pulled Mari off the bus. "We're here!" she squealed.

Mari looked around at the small, decrepit shopping center. "Where are we?"

Amanda grinned. "Ah, don't let the decor fool you. It's buried somewhere in the back, and once you get inside, you're going to just die!"

They walked through the shopping center, finally stopping in front of what seemed to be the only painted building on the block. "It's kind of a hidden gem," Amanda explained, opening the door.

It was like they had stepped into a classy New York boutique. It was absolutely beautiful.

A small, thin woman came up to them. "Hi, how can I…Oh my goodness, it's you, Amanda! I thought you had abandoned us!" she grinned. "I'll get DeMarc right away," she said, scurrying off.

"How do they know you so well here?" Mari asked, incredulous.

"I did some freelance designing for them a while back that turned out to be a big hit. In fact, I just did a new dress for them a few weeks ago," she explained.

A tall, dark man came hurrying up the aisle. "DeMarc!" Amanda squealed. The two kissed each other's cheeks.

"What did you bring me today, lovely?" DeMarc drawled in an obvious New York accent. Amanda giggled.

"A friend who needs help snagging her man at an awards ceremony tonight," she pushed Mari forward. DeMarc circled her.

"I don't think that's going to be any problem, with your beautiful figure," he murmured. Mari blushed. "In fact… Amanda, go grab the sample of that dress that you designed for me a few weeks back."

"Really?" Amanda gushed. DeMarc nodded.

"I think it'll look fabulous on her."

Twenty minutes later, DeMarc had helped Mari into the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. It was a gorgeous ruby color, with intricate beading around a sweetheart neckline, and it was fitted through the hips.

Mari finally stepped out in front of the mirror.

Amanda gasped, and DeMarc nodded with approval. "It's certainly her color," he remarked. Mari couldn't speak.

She had never looked so amazing. The dress clung to her in just the right way, the color of it made her tan pop, and the beading was a vintage touch that she loved.

"Amanda…you did this?" Mari whispered.

Amanda nodded. "Mari…Oh my God! Sohinki doesn't stand a chance tonight!" she grinned.

"Wait," DeMarc held up a hand, then took a few bobby pins and swept Mari's hair up into a simple twist. "There."

All three looked at her in the mirror.

"This Sohinki is going to drop his pants when he sees you," DeMarc laughed. Mari blushed.

"I don't know about that…" she murmured.

"I do," Amanda announced. "You're getting it. Free of charge. Because I'm the designer, and it's a sample. Right, DeMarc?"

DeMarc looked at her. "You were always quite the matchmaker," he remarked. "Free of charge, Miss Mari. As long as you kiss your man tonight."

Mari blushed again. Not that she would admit it out loud, but she was planning on it. She thanked both of them profusely, and soon found herself on the bus back to the hotel, clutching the garment bag that held her dress. Amanda had opted to stay at the studio and work on a few designs for a little while, but not before exchanging numbers with Mari and making her promise to relay every detail of the night to her tomorrow.

She unlocked the room to the hotel and found Ian and Anthony standing right in front of her.

"Lemme see!" Ian clapped his hands.

Mari smiled and put the dress bag behind her back. "Not until tonight. It'll be worth the wait, trust me," she grinned.

Ian pouted but quickly got all smiley again. "So guess who we just talked to?"

"Who?"

"Markiplier and Pewdiepie, and they're both coming to the awards ceremony too! We're all at the same table, so it's going to be one hell of a night," Ian chuckled.

"Oh, that's awesome! It's been forever since I've seen either of them," Mari instantly cheered a little more at the mention of her old friends' names.

Anthony called out from the back bedroom. "Ian, we only have two more hours to get ready! Can you tie this bowtie for me?"

"Two hours!" Mari gasped, not having realized what time it was. "I have to go finish getting ready!"

The next two hours passed in a blur for all of them. Ian and Anthony were the first ones ready, and Sohinki quickly followed. Lasercorn and Joven took forever, of course, but they were all ready in plenty of time.

"Okay, let's head on down and get a cab," Ian said. Sohinki help up a hand.

"What about Mari?" he asked, slightly worried that she was sick or something.

Ian and Anthony shared a knowing grin. "She's following a few minutes after us. Said she wanted to surprise us or something," Ian grinned at Sohinki.

"So, are you two going as dates tonight?" Anthony elbowed him in the side. Sohinki brushed him off.

"She didn't say anything like that, so I guess not," he muttered, slightly disappointed.

Ian and Anthony shared another glance.

"What?" Sohinki asked.

"Oh, nothing…" Ian said in a sing-song voice. Sohinki shook his head and the five men headed down to the lobby to catch a cab.

As soon as they got down to the lobby, though, Sohinki turned around. "Shoot, I left my wallet in the room. I'll catch up with you guys."

He hurried back up the stairs. Mari's door was still shut, and he was slightly relieved. He reached into the fridge in the kitchen and took out the long-stemmed red rose he had bought this afternoon. He placed in on the floor in front of Mari's room without a note, and left for the evening.

Chapter 8

The five men had been waiting in front of the makeshift red carpet for twenty minutes. About five minutes later, a small limo rolled up and Felix Kjelberg stepped out.

"Hey guys!" he waved at them while helping Marzia out of the car. She was absolutely gorgeous in a gold tulle two-piece dress and a simple updo. The guys exchanged bro-hugs and were chatting when a cab carrying Markiplier pulled up.

The seven guys all laughed and talked for a few minutes, and suddenly Ian's phone quacked. He looked down at the screen and quickly put it away.

"Sohinki, can you go get our badges?" Ian looked at Sohinki, who looked annoyed.

"I thought you were supposed to do that," he grumped. Ian shrugged.

"Guess I forgot. You mind?" Sohinki nodded and headed off toward the table. Ian pulled the rest of them in excitedly.

"Okay, Mari's on her way. Here's the plan…"

Mari stepped out of her cab and waved to her friends. Joven's jaw dropped. Lasercorn's eyebrows shot up, and Ian and Anthony whistled. Felix tried not to stare, but Marzia laughed and kissed Mari on the cheek, gushing over her outfit. Mark couldn't take his eyes off her.

"Sohinki's on his way, he's getting our badges," Ian whispered her ear. She nodded.

She was wearing Amanda's dress, and it looked even better than it had this morning. She had accessorized it with tiny diamond studs, a small ruby bracelet, and a small black clutch. Her ebony hair was swept into a simple twist, and she wasn't wearing a lot of makeup.

She looked absolutely stunning.

Sohinki finally got all of the badges sorted out, and noticed all his friends standing in a cluster around someone. Ian saw that he was heading over, motioned to everyone else, and they all backed up, revealing a very beautiful and very shy Mari.

Sohinki's mind went blank. He couldn't say anything, couldn't breathe, couldn't move. She was absolutely incredible. There was no other word for it.

The rest of the Smosh crew, Felix, and Mark chuckled. "We'll leave you two alone for a minute," Lasercorn grinned, and they all headed off in a different direction.

"Mari…" Sohinki murmured. "You look…"

Mari looked up at him, blushing and smiling.

"…beautiful," Sohinki finished, blushing as well. He then noticed the small red rose that adorned her hair.

She leaned in toward his ear. "Thank you for the flower," she whispered, kissing him on the cheek. She smelled like vanilla and roses. Sohinki was still completely stunned. Mari giggled.

He finally snapped out of it. "Hey, Mari?"

"Yeah, Sohin?"

"Will you…be my date for tonight?" Sohinki said shyly, smiling at her. She broke into a wide smile.

"Of course I will," she grinned. She leaned in and gave him a small kiss on the lips. They broke apart, smiled, and Mari leaned in to kiss him again, longer and sweeter this time.

Ian nudged the others as he spotted Mari and Sohinki in full-on lip lock. They all cheered and hollered, and the two broke away and walked over, blushing.

"So, Marhinki is a thing?" Anthony asked, crossing his fingers.

Sohinki looked at Mari. "I don't know. Is Marhinki a thing?"

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Yeah, it's a thing."

Everyone cheered. Mari slipped her hand into Sohinki's and the nine friends headed down the red carpet.


End file.
